Conversations
by Supersilver46
Summary: What if the Polyjuice mishap in the Trio's second year had gone a bit differently? Hermione finds that instead of turning into a cat girl, she turns into something else. What follows after that? Well...
1. Chapter 1

Harry sighed as he and Ron made their way down to the girl's bathroom. Everything they had done today was for nothing, Draco wasn't the heir of slytherin. The polyjuice potion had finally worn off, and the two of them were now wearing clothes that were too large for them.

"I really thought the Malfoy was the heir," Ron said as they approached the bathroom, "With how the blond git has been acting ever since Ms. Norris was paralyzed, you'd think that he'd be the heir."

Harry agreed, Malfoy had been bragging about how the muggleborns would be killed by the heir, and the utter pride on the blond's face when he taunted the muggleborns made Harry's blood boil. He, Ron, and Hermione had been working on the Polyjuice potion in order to sneak into the Slytherin dorms and see if they could find the heir. Unfortunately, all they had learned was that Malfoy was a fan of the heir and that no one in Slytherin knew who the heir was.

"Hey do you hear that?" Ron asked as they reached the girl's bathroom, "It sounds like Hermione is crying."

Harry frowned, before he and Ron had gone to the Slytherin dorms, Hermione had absolutely refused to get out of the stall she was in. She hadn't given them a reason as to why she wouldn't come out, but at the time he'd been more focused on getting answers from Malfoy. Now that they were back…

"Hermione, what's wrong?" Harry called through the toilet stall door.

"Oooooh!" giggled Moaning Myrtle as she phased through the stall Hermione was in, "It's simply awful..."

The stall door slowly opened allowing Harry and Ron to see Hermione who had tears pouring down her eyes. Pointy ears covered in brown fur poked up from the top of her head, and a large bushy tail extended from her spine.

"I-I think that the sample I got from Millicent wasn't human hair," Hermione sniffed as she rubbed her eyes, "I think it was animal hair, probably a squirrel's…"

"I tried to see if I could reverse the effects but…" Hermione sniffed, "Nothing I did worked, I don't know what to do!"

Hermione began to cry again, causing Harry and Ron to be at a loss at what to do.

"Don't worry Hermione," Harry said after choosing his words carefully, "I'm sure that Madam Pomfrey can help you."

"Professor McGonagall can help too," Ron said, "She's an expert at transfiguration so she know what to do."

"I suppose you two are right." Hermione said as she wiped her eyes, "But how are we going to get to the medical wing, everyone will see me if we leave."

"I have an idea," Harry said as he turned to Ron, "Hey Ron, can you get my invisibility cloak for me?"

"Sure, I'll be right back." Ron said as he jogged out of the bathroom. Hermione giggled as she watched Ron leave, and Harry turned back to look at her.

"What's so funny?"

"It's nothing, I was just thinking about how cute you are when you try to be serious." Hermione said.

' _What?'_

"What?" Harry asked.

"I said I was just think about how cool you are when you try to be serious." Hermione said.

"No, I'm pretty sure you said, you thought I was cute when I tried to be serious." Harry said.

Hermione tilted her head and smiled, allowing Harry to see her more prominent buck teeth, "I think you must be hearing things Harry."

"No, I'm pretty sure that-"

"Okay I'm back!" Ron shouted as he rushed into the room with Harry's cloak, "Are you two ready to go?"

"I'm ready," Hermione said as she got out from the stall, "Let's hurry to the medical wing you two!"

"Yeah.." Harry said as Hermione walked past him, he couldn't help but play back the words Hermione had said to him;

" _It's nothing, I was just thinking about how cute you are when you try to be serious."_

' _She thinks I'm cute…'_ Harry smiled, ' _I should try to be serious a bit more often…'_


	2. Chapter 2

"I'm sorry Ms. Granger," Madam Pomfrey said as she looked sadly at Hermione who was lying on the bed, "I'm afraid that I don't know how to reverse the effects of the potion."

"What?" Hermione softly said as she stared at the nurse.

"You mean she's going to be stuck like this?" Ron asked, "There's nothing you can do?"

Madam Pomfrey shook her head, "I've seen my share of potion mishaps, and I've managed to fix the problem without any trouble," she said, "But this...I don't think I've ever seen anything quite like this."

"How about you Professor McGonagall?" Harry asked their transfiguration professor who had been called down to the hospital, "Do you know of a way to fix this?"

Professor McGonagall shook her head, "I'm afraid that I've never seen anything like this either Mr. Potter." she said. "Polyjuice potions are tricky to work with, one mistake could cause devastating consequences."

"I've contacted St. Mungo's," Madam Pomfrey said, "They're going to try and work on a potion to fix you Ms. Granger," she said, "Unfortunately, it won't be done until next month."

"Next month?" Hermione looked at Madam Pomfrey with wide eyes.

"Yes, it will take them some time to work on it," Madam Pomfrey said, "If you can just wait for next month, they'll be able to turn you back to normal."

"Oh... okay." Hermione said as she looked down.

"Well I was going to take points off and give you detention for stealing from another professor and working on a dangerous potion," Professor McGonagall said, "But I think that you've already learned your lessons."

"Um Professor," Hermione timidly said, "Do I still have to go to class? With the way I look now..."

Professor McGonagall immediately understood what Hermione was getting at.

"Don't worry Ms. Granger," Professor McGonagall said, "I'll let your other Professor's know about your...mishap. That way they will understand that you won't make it to class."

"Besides you'll mainly be in here for a month," Madam Pomfrey said, "That way I can monitor you if any other unexpected changes occur."

"There might be more changes?" Ron asked.

"I'm not sure what other effects the potion may have on her," Madam Pomfrey said, "That's why I decided that it would be best if she stayed here."

"Oh."

"Anyway, Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley, I think that you should go to the common rooms." Professor McGonagall said, "There isn't much you two can do, and if you stay here, you'll only be a hindrance."

"I understand Professor," Harry said, "Let's go Ron."

"I hope you get better Hermione." Ron said as he followed Harry out of the common room...

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.

.

A few days had passed since the incident with the Polyjuice potion, and nothing had changed. The people and cat who had been petrified were still in the hospital, and everyone was a bit on edge. Not helping matters was when Draco seemed to be acting even more superior than normal. Harry guessed that it was because he was looking forward to seeing the next muggleborn get petrified, heck maybe he was even hoping that one of them would get killed. Strangely, the heir hadn't made any moves recently, which made people feel much calmer than before. Harry couldn't help but be on edge, as he could still hear voices coming from the walls, but the voices sounded...frustrated for some reason. Harry brushed that thought aside as he walked up the stairs to the hospital to see Hermione. He hadn't gotten a chance to see her since Snape had been pushing more and more homework on them, but he was finally free to go see her.

Ron wouldn't be coming with him, as he had detention with Snape after he had forgotten to turn in an essay they had. Ron was a bit upset that he couldn't come with Harry, but Harry told him that next time the two of them would go see Hermione together. As Harry walked into the hospital, he stopped and blinked as he looked into the room. There were about 10 squirrels that were running around the room, carrying medical supplies, books, sheets... Harry felt like he'd walked into some strange universe.

"Oh, Harry I didn't know that you were coming today!" Hermione smiled as Harry walked into the room, "How have you and Ron been doing, have you kept up with your classwork?"

"Sort of..." Harry said as he skirted around the squirrels, "Hey Hermione, is there a reason as to why so many squirrels are here?"

"Oh yes, I let them in," Hermione said, "They're actually quite nice when you get to know them, did you know that squirrels have an interesting outlook on philosophy?"

"Uh, no." Harry said, "That's great for them?"

"They're quite pleasant to talk to too," Hermione continued, "And with a little bit of training, they can help Madam Pomfrey care for the students who have been paralyzed."

"Wait, you can understand them?" Harry asked.

Hermione nodded, "I don't know if it's because of the potion, but I can understand everything they say."

Harry blinked as a squirrel tugged on clothes and frowned at him.

"He wants you to move out of the way," Hermione said, "You're standing in front of the medicine cabinet."

"Oh, sorry." Harry said as he stepped out of the squirrel's way. He blinked, "Did I just apologize to a squirrel?"

"Yes, you did." Hermione giggled.

It was strange, Harry had never heard Hermione giggle like that before. In fact, her mood seemed to have improved drastically from the last time he had seen her. She was kind of cute when she giggled like that.

'Wait what am I thinking?' Harry shook his head, 'That's Hermione, your best friend!'

"Are you alright Harry?" Hermione asked.

"I'm fine!" Harry shouted, and he accidentally stepped on a squirrel's tail. The squirrel shrieked and glared at Harry. "S-sorry!"

"Hey, I'm sure it was an accident," Hermione said to the squirrel, "There's no need to curse like that."

"It cursed at me?" Harry asked, "What'd it call me?"

"I'd rather not say," Hermione, "That'd probably boost this story's rating."

"What?"

"Oh nothing, I'm just acknowledging the fourth wall." Hermione said, "You wouldn't understand anyway."

"Okay..." Harry said.

"Oh, and I just figured out what's paralyzing the students," Hermione said, "it's a basilisk."

"A basilisk?!" Harry shouted, "Then we should go tell Dumbledore!"

"I already took care of it." Hermione said.

"How?!" Harry shouted, "Wait, when did you 'take care of it?'"

"Yesterday," Hermione said, "And let's just say that kicks are super effective against snakes."

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Tom Riddle stared at the dead basilisk that laid on the floor of the chamber of secrets. He'd been concerned when the entrance to the chamber had looked like it had been blown up, but he never imagined that someone would manage to kill the basilisk. It looked like one side of the Basilisk's head had caved in, as if some force had hammered it in. Its fangs were scattered along the floor, and its tongue hung out of its mouth. He noticed that a white sheet of paper had been attached to the Basilisk. He tore it off and began to read.

 _To whomever finds this note,_

 _if you're the one trying to hurt the students here then I'd recommend that you stop right now and think if you want to continue your 'crusade'. If you stop right now, I'll leave you alone, but if you keep going then I won't hesitate to kick your ass._

 _Signed,_

 _Squirrel Girl_


End file.
